SAN DIEGO, Calif. – A strong shooting performance in the second half pushed Concordia University Irvine within striking distance of stunning the ninth-ranked Point Loma Sea Lions on Saturday evening.

Jaden Henderson and Kaden Minter supplied the bulk of the offense for Concordia, as Minter finishing with a team-high 20 points and Henderson added 18 points. Together that duo shot 56 percent from the floor with Minter (8-for-11 from the field) and Henderson (7-for-16) both converting some difficult shots.

After opening with the game's first five points on baskets by Charlie Dalton and Connor Gleason, CUI fell behind by double digits. A glimpse of what was soon to come was on display in CUI's last couple possessions of the first half. Joe Locandro and Minter both drained a three-pointer in the final minute to get the deficit down to 10 before the buzzer.  Point Loma went into the locker room up 34-24.

The Golden Eagles then started to heat up. As a group, CUI sank 9-of-17 attempts from behind the arc while their defense held Point Loma to just 23 percent shooting on threes (3-for-13).

Zack Paulsen was the lone exception as the Sea Lions leading scorer had 23 points and went 7-for-7 at the free throw line for good measure.

Down just two points with under 20 seconds to play, CUI worked the ball to Henderson for another jumper but it unfortunately did not fall and Point Loma made a few free throws to outlast the visitors, 70-67.

"We played really hard and competed well enough to win," said CUI head coach Ken Ammann. "Just came up a play or two short. The five-minute stretch in the first half where we weren't physical enough on defense put us in a hole though. We battled the rest of the way and had a chance to tie the game, so I was very proud of the effort."

For Jaden Henderson, the team's leading scorer, his 18-point output also pushed him past a career milestone. Including his previous stops at York, Midland and Jessup, the senior has now scored over 1,000 career points in his college career.

This was the second meeting between the teams this season and both were decided by just three points. Concordia won the first meeting 68-65 back in Irvine behind strong performances by Locandro (23 points) and Minter (15 points).

Next up for the Golden Eagles are two more road games. They visit Jessup on Thursday and then Menlo on Saturday before returning home for their last homestand of the year.

A strong finish in these last four games gives CUI a chance to still get into the PacWest Conference Tournament as one of the top six seeds in the league. So far, Point Loma and Biola have reserved two of those spots up for grabs as of Sunday, Feb. 16. Currently, CUI will need at least three wins to get to 10 league victories and put itself in position to be in the mix.

CLICK HERE for the updated PacWest Conference men's basketball standings

CUI is back home on Thursday, Feb. 27 against Academy of Art at 7 p.m. and will then finish out the regular season against Dominican on Senior Day on Saturday, March 1 at 3 p.m.

CLICK HERE for the full CUI men's basketball schedule